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[Volfram]

Having thought more about the issue(thanks for the mockups, by the way, since I haven't gotten around to it), I don't believe the walls need to be treated differently.  Wall tiles have a particular look to them, and are hard to mistake for something else.

Additionally, I had a single vanishing point in mind the whole time, and I doubt it would look particularly odd on mountain slopes(if my experience with Google Earth is any indication... I live in a fairly mountainous area, it looks cool to drift over the landscape slowly.)

The one thing I might think is having ramps be placed between the two layers they connect.  That is, scale them 90% instead of 80%.(or 95 instead of 90)


[edit]Yes, the mockups rock.  It looks almost exactly like what I had imagined.[/edit]

[Footkerchief]

Having thought more about the issue(thanks for the mockups, by the way, since I haven't gotten around to it), I don't believe the walls need to be treated differently.  Wall tiles have a particular look to them, and are hard to mistake for something else.

It's not that they would be mistaken for something else -- it's that it would look worse than the current graphics, rather than better.  A vertical shaft with solid walls would still look like a series of flat slices.  Look at the blinking GIF I posted and note how drawing just a couple extra quads (which the GPU can do easily, don't even worry about it) gives the picture so much more depth.  Maybe I'll draw a complete shaft to make the point.

[Vattic]

This approach would suffice for rough walls, I think, but constructed walls would present some different problems -- many tilesets, including the default tileset, give walls the appearance of not completely filling their tile, which is a nice effect.  Bringing that effect into pseudo-3D could be difficult.  I'll have to think about it.

I see what your saying, using the standard tileset:


I must admit though I do like the scaling idea. Reminds me of this:

Source

[Aldaris]

I love this idea. It is the thing my forts have so far been missing. I dig lots of high-roofed halls and caverns and I love building rickity structures throughout chasms and pits, and this would make looking at them so much more awesome.

It ouwld also look great with hillsides and stuff.

[Footkerchief]

^^^ Which idea do you mean? I just remembered how far this thread has strayed from its origins.  I have to say, as cool as proper Z-scaling would be, the basic "depth by darkening" idea would be an amazing improvement on its own, and much less problematic.

[Aldaris]

Well, both of them, really, an init option for current deth/by darkening/by mist would be great, and the 'look into' would be awesome for pits and chasms.

[Volfram]

It's not that they would be mistaken for something else -- it's that it would look worse than the current graphics, rather than better.

I see what you mean.

Personally, I think it looks better either way, and that without vertical walls would be a good quick-hack until Toady wants to spend time to add vertical walls, but if it comes down to half a dozen lines of code, then you're probably right.

[Footkerchief]

Bump to notify everyone that this thread has an entry in Eternal Suggestion Voting, "Depth by darkening / misting / blurring."  Also, someone made a video of the darkening effect in action.

[Silverionmox]

It just struck me that this idea could as just as well be applied to make the underground tunnel structure better viewable. With the above progressive darkening of deeper tiles active, we just need a toggle to make all stone transparent (for viewing purposes) (or at least a few dozen levels, a black bottom is necessary). That way, you would get a view from the top down on all your tunnels, as if they were hanging in the air. A sideward view is possible with minimal adaptation of the same algoritms.

[MaskedMiner]

Bump to notify everyone that this thread has an entry in Eternal Suggestion Voting, "Depth by darkening / misting / blurring."  Also, someone made a video of the darkening effect in action.

Voted.